Chapter 73

She pulled the trigger, and it exploded on his chest. She thought she could even hear the bullet pushing through bones before coming to a final stop, causing him to stagger back.

They stood there in silence for seconds, searching each other's eyes, hers filled with uncertainty as reality set in and his stunned.

Before he groaned, his hands flew to his chest.

Realizing what she had done, her hands went shaky, and the gun fell to the floor; her eyes widened as she stared at his staggering body, reaching for his hand on the knob, but it was too unsteady to do anything for him.

"You fucking shot me, Maya," he groaned, sinking to the ground. Staring at his fingers and was surprised to see nothing. But still, he grimaced, shutting his eyes.

She shuddered, watching him, unable to take her eyes off his writhing frame. 

"Oh, my God!" She whispered, "What have I done?"

"You shot me; that's what you did, damnit." 

He was suddenly onto his shirt, ripping it apart so the buttons fell off, and right under it was a bulletproof vest. She would have almost sighed in relief if she hadn't seen blood beginning to seep through.

She looked into his face as she watched him stand up, then collapse again, "Fuck!" He cursed.

"Oh God," she whispered shakily, then ran out of the door, past him gasping for breath, to Lina's room, where she interrupted an intimate moment.

"Fuck it," Luca muttered, his hands on Lina's nightgown sleeves, "All I wanted was one fucking hour."

But when Lina looked at Maya's face, she knew nothing was alright. Pushing her shirt sleeves back up, she ran to her and asked, "Madame, are you ok?"

Maya was shaking, every inch of her body to her fingertips; she had killed and shot him; how could she?

"Is she OK?" She heard Luca ask Lina, who was standing up from the bed.

Looking at Lina, she whispered, "I shot him, Lina. He asked me to pull the trigger, and I did, and he's bleeding so much. Ohh, my God."

The shock and horror registered on Lina's face. Leaving her at the door, she ran to Luca, "Luca, go to Don's room," she hurried with urgency in her tone.

"Why? What's wrong with him?" He knew it wasn't even up to an hour that he and the Junior Don separated, where they had all been pursuing two cartel members that had pushed their way into Sicily.

So what's wrong now?

"Just go, Luca!"

"Fine, fine," he grunted, walking away until his eyes met a shaking Maya at the door; he immediately jumped right into the action, running past her and down to Damon's room.

Lina walked to Maya again, guiding her to the bed as Donna bit her fingers, muttering like she was possessed, "I killed him, Lina; I pulled the trigger."

Heaving a sigh, she placed her head on her chest, putting her hands around her shocked frame.

If it were the Don she knew, it wouldn't be easy to get rid of him. Hopefully, this would give her time to recover before he fully returned for her.

***

Luca rubbed his eyes, grimacing as he glared at the fucker he had known since childhood taking another big gulp from the glass he held.

They had dropped Damon at the hospital; he and George wasn't much of a pain because of how Don handled it, knowing to press the wound on his chest and breath slowly.

With how close she was when she shot him, he had gotten injured, Except he was lucky to have something protecting him.

Immediately he returned, he had gone to Maya and talked to her, then here he was in Derinem's room. It was a hell of a night, and it wasn't even over yet.

With Derinem's back relaxed and expression void, it was becoming a ton of work to get the idiot to say something reasonable.

"Derinem, you must help her now; she truly needs your help," he tried again.

Derinem raised a brow, shaking his head with a frustrated smile. "Look, Luca, just because they had a small fight doesn't mean they don't get along; at least to me, they do."

"Don't be a fucking idiot; she shot him. Maya shot Damon in the fucking chest with a Tokarev 7.62x25; good thing he had body armor, which didn't help much."

Luca watched Derinem shrug it off, saying she "still doesn't know if she's happy with him."

"Derinem, don't be like this; you can't let her go on like this."

Derinem downed the remaining content of the cup; it was just 4, for goodness' sake; couldn't a Don get a little rest in his damn space without something coming up?

His expression lied, and he knew it; inwardly, he was shocked. Maya shot Damon in the chest. It seems that everything went haywire immediately after he turned away.

It has been a while since he even saw her. For she was always preoccupied with Damon. Didn't she ask him to leave her alone?

He pushed the cup away, returning his gaze to Luca. "Luca, what exactly do you want? You heard when she said I had to let her be; you even backed her."

"Derinem, you're acting like a child right now."

"Fine," he shrugged, his back resting against his chair, "what do you want me to do for her? It's not like I can get her across the country without her permission."

"She needs your help," Luca exhaled "you alone can help her right now, and you know it."

Derinem looked into the paper, which was a list of names; he ticked two off of it, and still feeling Lucas' eyes on him, he growled, "What again?"

"You never asked the reason she shot him."

Derinem dropped the pen on the paper; frustrated and fed up, he glared, "

"Get it over and get out, okay; there are things to fix, and since Damon got his ass shot, I'm left with all of it!"

"Sorry, boss"

Derinem sneered at his sarcasm, threatening to pick up the pen again: "For real, Luca, if you have nothing to say to me, just get out."

"Lina wouldn't want me to tell you this; she has some weird rules she thinks a man should know about a woman, and all of those shit things... "

"Luca, please make this fast."

"Maya got pregnant..."

"Yeah, good for them."

Luca heaved a sigh, his throat heavy as he thought about what to say next. He exhaled, then turned his face to the side. "Damon made her get rid of it."

The reaction he expected came: pure rage. In a flash, he was on his feet, pulling off his bloody suit.

"When did this happen?"

Luca almost smiled. Fucker couldn't pretend, even when his life was at stake, that he didn't care about Maya; look at him now, all calculative.

"Last three weeks or so."

"Help me with a shirt over there." His fingers raked through his hair, and instead of bothering with the suit's buttons, he tore it open, pushing it over his head. Unable to contain his anger, he flared, "Three fucking weeks and nobody could tell me any fucking thing."

"She thought you might turn her away after everything."

"Oh fuck, what she thought; we both know Maya can't think to save her damn life." He slammed his hand flat on the table and repeated, "Throw me that damn shirt."

Luca threw him the black polo he had just gotten from the drawer, and seeing Don go crazy over one girl all because he heard she needed his help confirmed a lot of things that he wasn't going to say for the well-being of his nose.

"Where is Maya?!" He asked, still matching the door, and Luca smiled, not even turning to look back when he noticed the expected silence.

As Derinem opened the door, he stayed there gaping at the thin frame of her white nightie and the robe over it; she was looking at the ground, and her shoulders were stiff.

He couldn't help letting his eyes hover around, and when she raised her face at him, the rage was now turned on himself.

"Fucking useless Derinem," he thought, his hands clenched at his sides.

Her cheekbone was evident, and her eyes were very hollow; all he had to do was flick her forehead, and she would be falling in front of his door.

He saw she was fighting tears, pain, and fear as she kept opening her mouth to say something, then closing it again, becoming uncertain.

"Maya," he called her name; the way it sounded in his ears unnerved him. It was what she needed, he said in his defense; she had been through a lot.

"Lie to yourself, Derinem," his head chided.

"Sir," it seems she was beginning to feel her bravery, "Sir, I wanted to ask if the offer to help me still stood; if you don't mind, I'll take it."

He couldn't stop looking at her. What had Damon done to the warmth he had brought with her to the manor? All he could see now was cold.

"I know I said something when you offered, and I'm sorry; you're right; I am stupid, but please..."

He stretched forth his hand, looking her in the face, confusion setting in, but still, she put her hand in his, tears of relief flowing as he began to pull her in.

He shut the door after her, then nodded at the bed, "You can sit down there, Maya, so we get you out of there." He stood before her, his eyes on hers. He muttered, "The offer still stands; you only had to say something."

He watched as she looked at Luca, who winked at her, a little smile on his face, and her cheeks went warm

Or have Luca say something. Both of which were valid.